Vice President Kamala Harris' presidential campaign has reportedly announced that she will break with decades of campaign tradition and skip the historic dinner with Al Smith.
The decision was first reported by CNN on Saturday afternoon, citing a Harris campaign official who told event organizers that Harris would instead be campaigning in battleground states, but did not say which states.
The annual Alfred E. Smith Memorial Foundation Dinner, traditionally held in New York City to raise funds for Catholic charities, is hosted by the Archbishop of New York.
During a presidential election year, Republican and Democratic candidates typically meet for dinner and deliver humorous speeches, a tradition that began in 1960 when John F. Kennedy and Richard Nixon spoke at the event.
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Vice President Kamala Harris's presidential campaign has reportedly informed hosts that the presidential candidate will skip the traditional Al Smith dinner. (Getty Images)
There are exceptions to this tradition: The Al Smith Dinner chose not to invite the two leading presidential candidates during the 1996, 2000, and 2004 elections.
Fox News Digital asked the Trump campaign whether the Republican candidate plans to attend the dinner but did not immediately receive a response. The last time a Democratic candidate declined to attend a dinner while a Republican candidate was in attendance was in 1984, when President Ronald Reagan spoke without Walter Mondale in the audience.
In 2020, both President Trump and Democratic nominee Joe Biden attended the dinner, and despite the fierce election race, neither candidate criticized the other.
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President Carter and Ronald Reagan shake hands at the Al Smith Dinner in 1980. (Getty Images)
“Throughout my career as a public servant, I have been guided by the teachings of Catholic social teaching,” Biden said in his speech. “What you do to the weakest among us, you do to me.”
“Catholics have enriched our country in immeasurable ways,” Trump said at the dinner. “The essence of the Catholic faith is, as Jesus Christ said in the Gospels, 'And all shall know that ye are my disciples.'”
Vice President Kamala Harris waves during a campaign event in Madison, Wisconsin. (Alex Wroblewski/Bloomberg via Getty Images)
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Fox News Digital reached out to Harris' campaign for comment but did not immediately receive a response.
The Associated Press and Morgan Phillips of Fox News Digital contributed to this report.
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